World Bank Approves $1 Billion For Ganges River Cleanup

photo: Jaymis Loveday /Creative Commons That many stretches of the River Ganga in India are highly polluted, mostly thanks to inadequate sewerage and sanitation as well as industrial activity, should come as no surprise to many TreeHugger readers. In the latest effort to fund cleanup of the iconic river, the World Bank has approved $1 billion in funding for the National Ganga River Basin Authority . The money, 80% of which comes in the form of loans and 20% in credit, is designated so that the NGRBA can build capacity of its "operational level institutions" and so that can make investments "for reducing pollution in a sustainable manner". That sustainable manner has four key parts, according to World Bank's summary of the project: Wastewater collection and treatment, industrial pollution control, solid waste management, and riverfront management. World Bank's Venu Rajamony...